Anna Nicole Smith has been dead too long. The media has wrung just about all they could out of the life (and death) story of her miserable D-List celebrity. Americans had lost interest in her tragic/farcial end. We’d moved on.
However, have no fear. Our media mavens will be spared the indignity of actually covering really important stuff, like say Iraq, Iran, Global Warming, the US Attorney Purge scandal or the Walter Reed Hospital Mistreatment Malfunction, because, to their eternal gratitude, no doubt, a 37 year old man in Michigan has allegedly killed his wife, cut her body into pieces and then fled the police in freezing temperatures across snow laden fields until his capture earlier today:
MOUNT CLEMENS, Michigan (AP) — A man suspected of killing and dismembering his wife was captured Sunday as he fled searchers, running through snow in northern Michigan, police said.
Stephen Grant had been the subject of a manhunt since police discovered what they believe to be the torso and other body parts of his wife, Tara Lynn Grant, in and around the couple’s house in a suburb of Detroit.
Now I know some of you may find this disgusting, but let’s face the truth. These are the kinds of stories our tabloid style journalists and broadcasters do best. It has all the essential elements of a story the media will latch onto for dear life for the next year or so.
First, its salacious.
Second, it involves a murder of a white woman (we all know murdered women of color don’t qualify for this type of obsessive media attention).
Third, it requires no particular expertise or specialized knowledge on the part of the print or TV reporters to tell the story. Any loon with a radio or television gig can safely opine about the seamy details without fear.
Fourth, it will detract attention from other stories that might cause a certain Republican President (and Vice President) to get very angry with the liberal bias of the press corps. Which is just as well, since the corporate media bosses who determine which stories get aired would prefer not to piss off Republicans, even if they did lose Congress.
Fifth, it will boost ratings! Which, as we all know is the sine qua non of the infotainment business in the 21st Century.
The only thing better would be if the alleged killer was named Simpson (Scott or OJ, it doesn’t really matter). But then, that would only make our esteemed media personalities look even more moronic, vampirish and venal than they already appear, as night after night they fill the airwaves with their endless bloviating on the day’s trivial developments in the case.
Nonetheless, be prepared to hear the name “Tara Lynn Grant” repeatedly uttered from the porcine lips of Joe Scarborough, Bill O’Reilly, John Gibson, Nancy Grace, Larry King, Anderson Cooper, Brian Williams, Katie Couric, ad infinitum for the next oh, so many, many months. And rest assured, someone (Pat Robertson? Michelle Malkin? Newt Gingrich? Dineesh D’Souza?) will find a way to blame liberals for the whole sorry spectacle.
